Police: Case not closed in baby's death at Stroud Township day care

Tuesday

Jan 29, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Though Monroe County's coroner believes a Stroud Township day care facility is not responsible for the death of a 3-month-old boy found unresponsive there in November, Stroud Area Regional Police are still investigating and have not ruled out the possibility of foul play.

ANDREW SCOTT

Though Monroe County's coroner believes a Stroud Township day care facility is not responsible for the death of a 3-month-old boy found unresponsive there in November, Stroud Area Regional Police are still investigating and have not ruled out the possibility of foul play.

"We're still looking at all aspects (in baby Jasaan Feliciano's Nov. 29 death)," SARP Detective Dave Thomas said Monday. "We still have quite a bit of work to do. I plan to contact the coroner for a copy of the pathology report."

Coroner Bob Allen last week called Feliciano's death a case of "sudden unexplained death in infancy," formerly known as "sudden infant death syndrome," and believes nothing the day care facility did led to the baby's death.

Employees at the Jamie Court facility, listed as being run by Deborah Thompson, had put Jasaan on his stomach for a nap when he was found unresponsive.

"The autopsy found nothing to indicate he suffocated or that laying him on his stomach contributed to his death," Allen said Monday.

Performed by forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Johnson in Allentown, the autopsy found the baby had pre-existing medical conditions including a prior cold, middle ear infection and sickle-cell trait, according to Allen's office.

The baby also had G6PD deficiency, an inherited condition in which the body doesn't have enough of a particular enzyme that helps red blood cells function properly.

"None of these pre-existing medical conditions were found to have contributed to the death," Allen said. "I understand the facility has been shut down due to violations inspectors found there after this death was reported. I do not believe any of those violations contributed to this death, but those violations have nothing to do with the scope of my duties. That's for law enforcement."

A statement from Allen's office noted that there were no indications of bacterial infections, no physical injuries, negative toxicology and no incriminating history for the child from police.

The state Department of Public Welfare closed the facility after finding regulatory violations related to the children's rest equipment, the use of a space heater and the keeping of records, DPW spokeswoman Anne Bale said. The facility has the right to appeal the DPW's decision to close it, Bale said.

"The cause of death has been listed as 'sudden unexplained death in infancy' and the manner of death as 'undetermined,' which all cases like this are, because we can't say this child died from natural or unnatural causes," Allen said. "We simply don't know."

Thomas declined to give further details about what else the investigation entails.

"This type of investigation involves a multidisciplinary approach, which includes extensive interviews, consultations with experts, review of records and a detailed examination of the scene," Eric Kerchner of the District Attorney's Office's Detective Division said in a statement.

Kerchner noted that Allen had been quoted in the Pocono Record as saying the death investigation was closed and that no adverse findings had been made.

"Those remarks were premature and ill advised," Kerchner said. "The child's death is currently the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Stroud Area Regional Police Department and the Office of the District Attorney."

In capital letters, Kerchner emphasized: "No findings have been made to date."